INSIGHTS

What is Traction? Where does it come from? And, most importantly, how do you generate it?

Startups are in an endless pursuit of product-market fit. If they are very young, they might still be defining their vision of what the world will look like should they find it. If they are more mature, they are justifying to their next round of investors and strategic hires that they are strengthening their understanding of the early fit they’ve already established. This road is so well-traveled that the industry has adopted a name for the story of this pursuit: traction.

Marc Andreessen eloquently defines product-market fit as “being in a good market with a product that can satisfy that market.” This sounds straightforward enough, but it takes time, money, trial, and error to prove a venture has found its fit. Furthermore, if a company wants to raise capital from professional venture capitalists, just having product-market fit isn't enough. A startup needs to prove it can achieve venture-scale. That’s why those in the startup ecosystem have invented the concept of Traction.​I’ve found myself thinking about the meaning of traction every day as I lead a team that researches and coaches growth strategies to VC-backed startups. The importance of traction cannot be understated. If a founder can justify they have it, then they can more effectively inspire their teams and raise capital on favorable terms. If he or she cannot, then they will forever be stymied by uncertainty in their decision-making and consensus building.

Traction is a concept so fundamental to everything an early-stage company does that its striking lack of a commonly accepted definition is the impetus for my writing on this topic...

Author

Harlan Milkove is a product-minded software engineer and veteran startup founder. He has led initiatives across several ventures to launch flagship products via individual contribution and by forming high caliber teams. His most notable venture, Reonomy, is a commercial real estate analytics platform that has secured over $69M in funding.

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